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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Racism is alive and well in Canada

The recent staging of blackface at an institution of
higher learning in Montreal is disturbing, to say the least. But it can
serve as a potent reminder of the ongoing legacies of racism and racist
cultural practices against blacks in the west - and yes, this includes
Canada.
As a professor of (among other things) Canadian art
history, I can state unequivocally that there is a profound deficit of
knowledge of Canada's racist past among university-aged students in
Canada. When I introduce topics such as the vast visual culture of
transatlantic slavery to my mainly white Canadian students, the majority
initially approach the materials exclusively from a perspective of
American and Caribbean slavery. It is always a moment of shock when they
learn that Canadians (French and British) for centuries also enslaved
peoples of African and native descent.
How has the 28-year period
(1833-61) of the Underground Railroad (which remembers Canada as the
saviour of African-American slaves fleeing northward to freedom) taken
on such mythic status in our national consciousness, while the
centurieslong history of slaving in the "Great White North" has been
almost universally forgotten? The answer, though complex, can be
summarized as follows: Canadians have a knack at off-loading their
colonial history of racial marginalization and exploitation onto their
southern cousins, the United States.
The events at the school of Hautes Études Commerciales should alert us to the fact racism is alive and well in Canada.
In
one fell swoop, this student performance maligned various groups on the
basis of race, nationality, religion, language and culture. The
students not only vilified and marginalized black people in general by
"blacking up," but also took underhanded swipes at the entire nation of
Jamaica (carrying the flag and wearing the national colours), while
criminalizing blacks as pot-smokers (chanting "smoke more weed"),
ridiculing Jamaican patois (chanting "Yeah mon"), equating the use of
marijuana in the religious, spiritual and meditative practices of
Rastafari with getting high and partying for the hell of it, and
finally, some even wearing hats with fake locks attached (a problematic
appropriation of a black hair aesthetic).
It is hard to believe
the students' and university's initial explanation that the group's
dress and behaviour were meant to honour the Jamaican Olympian Usain
Bolt. Could they not have honoured Bolt dressed as themselves, white
students? And if Bolt had been on campus that day, would they really
have greeted him dressed in this manner?
Although minstrelsy and
its related practices, such as blackface, are most often associated with
the United States, this once widely accepted form of popular culture
did exist in Canada (as well as in Europe and other locations). A part
of the problem is that the histories of minstrelsy in Canada have yet to
be written.

Dating to the early 19th
century, minstrelsy involved a public theatrical performance that
included racist humour, singing and dancing. The mainly white male
performers (often of marginalized or so-called "undesirable" white
groups, such as Jewish and Irish men) often performed in blackface,
applying dark black face paint and deep red lipstick. In this guise, the
whites of their eyes were dramatically apparent.
Minstrelsy
celebrated a white nostalgia for black enslavement. It is no accident
that it reached its peak only after slavery had been abolished. The
songs, dancing and "comedy" of the performances hinged on a recitation
of the assumed inferiority of blacks and often-violent fantasies of the
murder, torture and dismemberment of black bodies. Of course, this all
helped to bolster ideas of white supremacy.
Whether or not the
group of HEC students knew explicit details of the history of
minstrelsy, it is difficult to imagine that they did not know that
"blacking up" in 2011 could be construed as inappropriate and racist
behaviour. Students are voracious consumers of popular culture
(television, internet, print media, etc.). A quick glance at any of
these media would tell you that images of blackface have been all but
banned from the public domain. The old Hollywood movies where white
movie stars donned blackface are almost never screened, and neither are
the older versions of cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry that
used blackface.
The HEC students and a university spokesperson
said that their actions should not be construed as racist, due to a lack
of knowledge. But one could argue that not knowing that this type of
spectacle is wrong is a perfect example of racism. Surely racism is not
only a matter of intent. If our measure of racism is based solely on
what people meant to do, we ignore the impact of the racist acts upon
its victims.
The negative message that this performance sends to
the black population of the university should not be underestimated. The
white students who chose to don blackface eventually went back to
classes and sat down beside their black fellow students, listened to
lectures delivered by their black professors (although there are very
few), checked out library books handed to them by black library staff,
and ate meals in campus cafeterias served by black staff. Their
disregard for the impact of their performance on the well-being of the
black members of their shared university community is telling. It speaks
of racial narcissism.
Lest we dismiss what happened at HEC as an
isolated incident, we should remember the debacle that took place during
Halloween at a Legion Hall in the town of Campbellford, Ont., last
year. Unbelievably, the first prize was awarded to a pair of white men,
one of whom wore a Ku Klux Klan costume with a confederate flag draped
on his back and the other in blackface with a noose around his neck. The
direct references to the American Civil War and the heinous practice of
lynching made this spectacle particularly vile.

Back
to university campuses: here and in the U.S., there is a rising trend
of "gangsta" "hip-hop" or "ghetto" parties at which white students
congregate in blackface, "tricked out" with "bling," even going so far
as to pad their backsides in a disturbing parody of black anatomy. This
resurgence of minstrelsy seeks to degrade blacks. Clearly black students
are not welcome at such parties unless they consent to being the
punchline of a racist joke.
It is unsettling that a popular
cultural form that supposedly died in the mid-20th century is making
such a strong comeback. It is fitting that we ask why, and why now. Is
this not the age of Obama (the first black president of the U.S.), of
Michaëlle Jean (Canada's first black governorgeneral), of Yolande James
(Quebec's first black female MNA), of the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Colin
Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Canadian businessman and philanthropist
Michael Lee-Chin?
I see the resurgence of blackface and minstrelsy
as a racist pushback against precisely these types of gains and
accomplishments. There is a specific type of racism reserved for
high-achieving blacks. Middle-and upperclass blacks - people with
education, credentials, good careers, and money - often encounter what I
like to call "how dare you?" racism: "How dare you be more educated
than me?" "How dare you make more money than me?" "How dare you assume a
position of power and leadership over me?"
It should perhaps be
even more upsetting to us that blackface is making a comeback among
young, educated whites. What does it mean that university-and
collegeeducated young adults are engaging in these acts? Well, for one
thing, we need to rethink the simplistic idea that racism is more
abundant among older populations and non-existent among our youth.
Furthermore, we need to ask if "education" is a cure for racism. Clearly
education in general is not. In fact, the type of Eurocentric education
that proliferates in the curriculum, methodologies, theories, course
materials and resources of the majority of university disciplines is
precisely what perpetuates the racist ignorance and racist behaviour of
students like those at HEC.
Canadian universities' diversity
policies, many of which are strategically unenforceable and unenforced,
also contribute to the racial exclusion of blacks, people of colour and
natives on university campuses, especially as faculty and upper
administration. The policies help to propagate the idea of Canada as a
race-blind, multicultural state, one that does not really need to engage
with the issue of racism, since racism is supposedly not a problem in
Canada.
As disturbing as it is, the HEC incident can act as a
wake-up call to Canadians and a starting point for a broader public
discussion. The university's initial reaction was inept, an attempt to
downplay the incident as innocent fun; it was a shining example of how
racism is typically "managed" in Canada. International media attention
rendered that early response untenable. The question is, what will the
university do now? Should the students involved be expelled? Lose a
semester of study? Be forced to make a formal apology? Be made to do
community service at one of the many black cultural institutions in
Montreal, so they could spend time with and get to know some of the
blacks and Jamaicans whom they ridiculed that day?
And what about
the university's diversity polices and procedures? Why weren't there
checks and balances in place to ensure the blackface idea never made it
to the level of a public performance?
While I am disturbed by the
fact that this blackface performance took place, I am pleased at the
critical international media attention that it has spawned. In Canada,
this is a long-overdue and worthwhile conversation.